Sunny Dreams is living proof that obstacles of Subdivision
Covenants, can be overcome in green building. While sun-inspired design styles are
adaptable enough for most architectural guidelines, the minimum size
requirements that subdivisions often require can be a challenge, but one that was worth it!

"Yes, we are enjoying the house EVERY SINGLE DAY! It feels like a vacation home, and that was exactly our intention."

Homeowners may want a smaller home that is less expensive to
build and to operate. They may also
value quality of space over quantity of square footage. In creating a custom home for Nenad and
Biljana, early in the process they presented Sun Plans with their values and
space requirements. Sun Plans then to
created a right-sized home that would be as small as the subdivision allowed
yet include all the spaces and features that they wanted.

In a letter written to their local paper, the home owners stated “After hundreds of e-mails and phone calls over about eight months,
architect Debra Coleman from Sun Plans, Inc. provided plans that elated the
couple, custom-designed for their lifestyle. Then, they went looking for a
builder that has a reputation for meeting green standards. They chose Cook
Builders in Crown Point.”

The home achieved a Gold Rating by the National Association
of Home Builders. It also achieved an Energy Star HERS index rating of 53 which means
that the home should use about 53% of the energy that a new home built to code
would use. With their conservative life-style and attention to energy use, they
are hoping that the actual use comes in lower.

Approximately 25% of their heating needs will be provided by
the sun and their cooling savings due to right-placed windows and porches will
also be reduced.

To stay within budget, the design underwent one stage of
plan revisions that required some
changes both in the design and a few energy features. Working closely with Cook Builders on details
of pricing various levels of insulation and Energy Diagnostics as the Energy Star home
energy rater and NAHB Green Verifier, both in Indiana, the homeowners were able to identify which energy
features were the most cost-effective to bring the house within their
budget.

In their case, the basement has concrete walls with rigid insulation board while the upper
floor walls are insulated stud cavities with a thin layer of sprayed foam to
seal the walls, then cellulose blown on top. Exterior rigid
insulation wraps the exterior walls. The rafter system has the
same combination of sprayed foam and cellulose.
This attention to more insulation that is better installed along with high
quality windows increased construction costs by approximately 5-10%.

"It feels so good to live here and that is priceless."

In describing winter comfort, the home owner says:

"At -20F outside, during the sunny days, inside the house was above 73F with the heat turned off."

When asked what they like best about their sun-inspired home, they state:

"So much light inside!!! Enough that we did not feel sun-deprived after a loooong....winter."